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Earth 2
After traveling to orbit became much cheaper in the 2070s due to scram jet launching systems, space colonies became much easier to establish. Antebellum Colonization 2040-2099 Economic Incentives by Colony Luna: Initially iron and nickel, evolved to orbital manufacturing and agricultural domes. Mars: Uranium and rare earth metals, theoretically cheap land, Refugee billionaires The Belt: Water, rare earth metals, platinum, cheap metals, gold, copper, silicon, Jovian System: Water, agriculture, organic compounds, refugee Chinese billionaires, Saturnian System: Hydro Carbons Late Antebellum Colonization In 2074, an American engineering team successfully carried out a scram launch. As soon as their technology became available to the public in 2083, deep space launches dropped from from $1000 a pound to $250 a pound over the course of ten years. Prices stabilized at $100. The largest settlement on Luna was Lunapolis, an American manufacturing city which supports the space industry. The largest settlement on Mars was the Russian mining city of Gagaringrad which supplied earth with 10% of its uranium by 2099. The largest settlement in the belt was Voidgate on Ceres. A city controlled by the EU and originally established by an American corporation. It is vital for trade and mining throughout the Belt. The largest settlement in the Jovian system is Tiantang. A Chinese city with it's own ecosystem that supplies the outer planets with water and medicine. The largest settlement in the Saturnian system is Kronos. A Russian/Iranian city which exports hydrocarbons to the entire solar system. 3rd Global War - The Sovereignty War Prelude In the 2070s, during a period of American Pacifism and global chaos, four powerful states formed an alliance: The Russian Federal Dominion, the People's Republic of China, The Republic of Iran, and the People's State of Pakistan. Their state goal was to ensure world peace through The alliance, dubbed the United Powers, was led by a council of oligarchs called the strategic sovereign council. During the reign of the first Heirarch, Galdin Yegorovich, the Hegemony managed to stabilize Eurasia. China and Russia invaded Central Asia, ending the Khazak war. Iran and Pakistan managed to occupy Afghanistan. War The war began in 2099 when Iran invaded Kuwait. The United States declared war on Iran and began airstrikes against them. End of the War The war ended in 2101. The Russian intelligence service managed to locate every US first wave nuclear weapon, and Chinese space-based military units destroyed them all in a single strike. Every nation in the Coalition launched some of their first wave nuclear weap0ns and the US was left with an ultimatum. Surrender unconditionally within 30 minutes, or have their 10 largest civilian centers destroyed. The American president, Alex Li, chose to surrender. Interbellum Period 2101-2155 Space Colonization A Hegemony invention, created in 2103, dropped the price of deep space launches to $40 a pound. After that prices continued to drop slowly until 2185 when it stabilized around $32 a pound. The European Union, East Asian Council, and Central American Common Market began colonizing the Belt in earnest. The Russian Federal Dominion began mass colonization, and even terraforming, of Mars. The United Nations began taxing nations on environmental damage which was then in turn used to reward Martian terraforming. Orbital Energy Crisis Before the third world war 30% of the world's power was generated from Orbital Solletta Collectors: Giant lenses in orbit that focused light onto solar panels on the ground below, vastly improving energy efficiency of solar panels and making it possible to generate power from solar energy without consuming ridiculous tracts of land. Unfortunately during the war, Solleta collectors were proven vulnerable and most were destroyed by rival powers. The worldwide destruction of Orbital Solettas led to an economic crisis. In the immediate aftermath of the war The economy of Titan exploded as Hydrocarbon shipments to earth increased to pick up the slack of Solettas. However, in the years following recovery focus shifted, as corporations began shipping uranium from Mars to set up power plants in the EU, China, India, and the US. Mars The population and economy of Mars increased dramatically during this period. In 2077 the United Nations had put together a fund which relocated 1000 people a year to a martian colony. As the price of launches decreased, the number of colonists a year increased to 10,000. Many war refugees took this offer to escape war torn regions. During this time period, the United Nations Martian Settlement Committee put together an impressive fund to reward anyone terraforming Mars. At the end of each two year period the sum the Committee collected was distributed to the corporations and individuals who had contributed to terraforming. It became common practice for ships to be scuttled on Mars because the ship owners would be paid a small amount for the heat that the scuttled ship added to the atmosphere. Sometimes more than a trillion dollars was invested into terraforming each year. Due to the climate crisis on earth, it was illegal to mine radioactive ore on the Earth's surface. The need for radioactive elements for nuclear reactors during the energy crisis prompted lots of uranium mining on Mars's surface. Smelting furnaces in Martian orbit were used to smelt minerals from asteroids from the asteroid belt. Various governments supported colonies of scientists to research Mars. These early colonies eventually became important technology centers. Many were re purposed for terraforming innovation. It became trendy for billionaires to move to Mars with a group of employees from their own or other nations. These formed the Villas, consisting of 250-5000 settlers living in domes or underground. These villas often became more powerful as some of the second generation residents would find ways to make money, often via industry/technology, uranium mining, or UN sponsored terraforming. The Newton-Diana Lunar Elevator Project The United Kingdom championed a project to build a space elevator from the moon to the Lunar-Terran Lagrange Point 1. They received loans from China & Russia and the EU. The loans were payed back over a several years after the completion of the project, and interest was paid in the form of reduced prices for transportation. The Hierarchy and the EU were competing at this point for economic hegemony, so both were willing to give an advantageous deal to the UK in order to outplay one another. The project was used to inspire unity and pride in the Commonwealth Dominion. The nations who directly supported the project (not just offering loans) were given administrative voting and profit sharing proportional to their investment. The investment proportion was as follows: UK - 52%, Canada - 20%, Australia - 12%, New Zealand - 7%, India - 2%, United States - 2%, Malaysia - 1%, Singapore - 2%, Hong Kong 2%. The UK bought a space station from Canada and added a series of nanotechnology manufacturing plants, renaming the satellite Diana. They then claimed Lagrange 1 by buying a minor space station from India and simply replacing it with Diana. They already had a minor scientific station on the equator. They constructed the space elevator by building a series of nanofiber cables at orbital manufacturing satellites together at the Diana station. At this point the world had a lot of experience manufacturing graphene and nanotubes, but this project had a series of unique challenges. It is said that the cost of manufacturing projects is increased according to four factors, high quality control, government redtape, X, and X. The Newton-Diana project that had all four. Each fiber had to be created as a single perfect one piece strand. The United States primarily supported the project by giving the UK access to orbital nanotechnology factories at reduced rates and using its military to help with logistics of shipping parts to the Diana satellite. In return they were allowed to keep a small base to dock a few small ships at the Diana satellite and another small base for infantry at the base of the space elevator in the town of Newton. They were also given a limited number of highly reduced price shipments between the two bases each week. The 太阴-阶梯 ' Project' The Chinese government championed a project to build a space elevator from the moon to the Lunar-Terran Lagrange point 2. While the project officially began seven years after the Newton-Diana project began, research was conducted long before it was initially announced, actually being seriously conducted upwards of five years before Netwon-Diana began. Chinese was actually extremely important for the success of the Newton-Diana Elevator. Early Chinese research was stolen by British spies and used by the British to accelerate the project. Some historians estimate that the knowledge taken by the British accelerated the project by anywhere from 5 to 20 years. The reason Britain finished the elevator first despite China's research advantage was because they were constructing an elevator at the much closer Lagrange 1 which required a much shorter tether. China completed the project in 12 years, 9 years after the Newton-Diana Elevator was completed. Demography Interbellum America Occupied America 2101-2107 The Council of the Hierarchy instituted a puppet government in the United States, lead by ex-director of the CIA, Otto Oswald. America was divided into civil war when the armed forces refused to disband. The war was effectively brought to a truce when heavy bombardment forced the military underground. Over the course of the five year occupation Hierarchy Forces were gradually replaced by private civilian militias under the command of Oswald. Occupied America Timeline 2101 - America occupied, all elected officials removed from office. control of executive bureaucracy transferred to a council of Generals called the Американское управление оккупации (Strategic American Occupation Directorate) (AYO). All public speech against the Hierarchy was banned. Some dissidents are shot, though most manage to escape retribution. About 200,000 US military forces (evenly divided between the four major branches.) rebel and promise to reinstate the constitution. They call themselves the Continental Army. 2102 - After heavy bombardment kills many soldiers and convinces others to surrender, the Continental Army is reduced to a little less than 100,000. The AYO votes to install Otto Oswald, former director of the CIA, as the administrator of the American Protectorate will all the power of the previous American president, while the AYO has the power of the previous Congress and Supreme Court. Oswald is allowed to handle American dissidents himself, sending some to Camps in the midwest run by Oswald's private guard. For some reason, Continental Army Guerillas don't attack Oswalds troops, only the occupying foreign forces. 2103 - The AYO allows Oswald to begin recruiting militias to allow Hierarchy forces to withdraw from strategic areas in the Midwest. 2104 - Riots quelled in DC and San Francisco, Oswald convinces the AYO to allow for freedom of speech in all subjects not relating directly to the AYO or the Hierarchy, the AYO allows Oswald to call a congress for the first time in three years. Hierarchy occupation forces withdraw from the east coast except for New York and Washington D.C. 2105 - The new congress meets, a none of the four major parties manage to make a coalition. Occupation forces withdraw from most southern regions. Riots in Indianpolis are shut down by Oswald. No protestor is killed, but the ringleaders are arrested and taken to Oswald's camps. The new congress is given command of the very small remains of the US military, of which only 50,000 military personel remain. 2106 - The Center-Left and Center-Right parties form a coalition and draft a resolution calling for the complete withdrawal of Hierarchy forces from the United States. The AYO wanted to dissolve Congress and arrest the ringleaders. Oswald convinced them that their would be riots if that occurred, instead he vetoed the resolution and forced the Party Leaders to resign. Occupation withdrawal was almost halted but at the last minute the scheduled withdrawal from the west coast (except for major urban centers) 2107 - Hierarchy forces were forced to abandon the US completely following a massive coordinated uprising in Central Asia. Chinese forces managed to put down rebellions in Tibet, and Iranian forces put down rebellions in Afghanistan, but more uprisings occurred in Mongolia, and Georgia and many others. After all the Hierarchy forces were gone, Oswald declared Independence in a shocking move that surprised both his allies and his detractors. It was revealed that all dissidents sent to prison camps were actually alive and well and had been operating as defacto think tanks for Oswald's forces. Oswald legalized the Continental Military and promised to reinstate the constitution. 2108 - The constitution is reinstated. Hegemony Before the war America had Hegemony up until 2072 and the election of Ted Bennett after which the United States reduced military expenditure by more than half and dismantled all but twelve military bases. Between the 2070s and the 3rd global war Hegemony was uncertain. The biggest contenders were the EU, Russia, China, and India. In 2081 Russia and the EU opposed each other in a proxy trade war between Brazil and Japan. Brazil and Japan imposed a series of escalating embargoes and tariffs on one another over fishing rights in the south pacific. Japan, supported by the EU, won. In 2087 India and China conflicted over a border dispute between Thailand and Myanmar. Due to internal conflict within China, India lent its full support to Thailand and won the dispute. These setbacks seemed to indicate that neither Russia nor China would be able to claim hegemony which was part of the reason for the Hierarchy Alliance. In the aftermath of the war it seemed like the Hegemony in total had reached Hegemony. However, after Russia failed to annex Kazakhstan until China helped out, it became rather clear that China was really running the show, though the other three nation-states still played significant roles in geopolitics. General Political Timeline * 2101 - War ends * 2104 - Pakistan orchestrates minor upheaval in Kashmir. With assistance from China and Russia they take the region. * 2105 - Central Asian coalition formed. The European Union makes a trade deal with the Hierarchy in exchange for a dedicated hydrocarbon supply from Titan. * 2106 - American constitution reestablished. Iran peacefully annexes Azerbaijan. * 2107 - Emboldened by the reestablishment of the US Constitution, rebels in Alaska use Geurilla tactics against Russian forces. * 2110 -The United States appeals to the United Nations for the return of Alaska. * 2111 - The United Nations rules that Alaska should be returned to the United States. The Hierarchy ignores it. Alaskan Guerilla operations continue. The US government covertly supports the rebels, though their actions are limited by Hierarchy oversight. * 2116 - When a possible alliance between the Central Asian Coalition and the UKC is revealed Russia tries to annex the Khazak-Karagandy Union in retaliation. The EU temporarily occupies Northern Ireland. * 2117 - After a new populist prime minister comes into power in Pakistan she tries to orchestrate a take over of Indian Punjab. Chinese troops mass on the border to assist if its opposed, just like before. However, this time the European Union opposed the conquest of Punjab. Eventually this results in a stalemate since the European Union was the only geopolitical entity that the Hierarchy thought had any chance of damaging them, even though most agreed that the EU would probably win in a long term war. The stale mate ends when the Commonwealth Dominions Alliance joins the India EU side. This convinces the Hierarchy to pull out of India. * 2118 - The EU occupation of Northern Ireland ends after years of North Irisish insurgency and after Ireland is blockaded by an American-UKC joint blockade. This marks the first major American foreign policy involvement since the war. * 2119 - the Karagandy war officially ends once Chinese Marines turn it into a war on two fronts. * 2120 - The Congolese Parliament nationalizes Coltan industry. * 2121 - Major political unrest begins in Congo for the first time in more than 60 years. Parliamentary elections in the Congo occur. For the first time in 48 years, the international community agrees that the elections were not fair and free due to Russian influence. No party wins a majority but the Russian backed Worker's Internationalist Party goes from third place to a plurality. General secreatary * 2122 - Ekaterina Makarova steps down to to health issues. She had been General secretary of the UN for a total of 21 years (2096 - 2106 and 2111 to 2122). Meanwhile in Congo,a constitutional crisis is finally averted when the National Democratic party (second place) form a coalition with their traditional opponents the Neoliberal Centrists (third place). Their unstable coalition also requires cooperation with the Social Worker's Party (which required the support of the North East). * 2123 - Iran supports an Insurgency in the North East, the Social Worker's Party is torn apart. At the same time, Chinese businesses begin a boycott of the Congo which convinces the Neoliberal centrists to switch sides. The insurgency is condemned by the United Nations which had until recently been sympathetic to the Hierarchy due to the influence of General Secretary Ekaterina Makarova. Japan contributes Peacekeepers to pacify the North East region. * 2124 - Brazil and Nigeria form a secret alliance to economically support the Congolese despite Chinese blockades. They are the first members of what will eventually be called the Secret Coalition or the Coalition of the Damned. Japan joins the coalition later that year. * 2126 - India and Mexico join the Coalition. * 2128 - The existence of the coalition becomes more obvious when they work together to oppose the annexation of Tonshima despite that fact that it would have supported Brazilian interests. * 2129 - The Hierarchy's fears are realized when the European Union supports the Coalition during a crisis over Asteroid Belt mineral mining. * 2130 - The European Union prevents the Pakistani annexation of East Punjab, by supplying India with weapons and passing an official condemnation in the United Nations. However, EU soldiers also jointly occupy East Punjab along with Indian soldiers, and they use their power to negotiate for a favorable trade deal. * 2133 - Brazil, Nigeria, Japan, and the EU work together to prevent China from placing Nuclear Weapons in Vietnam. * 2144 - The pro-United Powers Antoine Suchet, becomes president of the EU. Soon the European Union breaks away from the Secret Coalition South East Asian War 2139-2144 Started as a proxy war between the Secret Coalition and the United Powers. In the end the war was decided when the European withdrew its support from Malaysia and became neutral, breaking away from the Secret Coalition. The Uneasy Truce 2144-2165 In order to prevent another Arms Race, which might lead to another war, the treaty everyone agreed to prevented the Great Powers from researching weapons technology and some peaceful technologies that could be used for war. Naturally, this utterly failed, and instead led to an Arms Race led by corporations and mad scientists instead of governments. These great scientists and builders were called the Pansolar Industrialists. The most famous and powerful of these was Jin Wei (Known as Wei Jin in the west). Jin Wei was a Chinese citizen and the son of a mid-tier corporate executive. Originally from the city of Lianyungang. He grew up in Hong Kong from the age of 4 to 16. Wei receive a double major in Computer Engineering and Business. He was an excellent worker and used the proceeds from his jobs to fund the invention of a point defense AI which in turn funded the creation of his own business. Jin Wei eventually made a belt city called Chéngbo (城堡) his base of operations, followed by another city on Ganymede. With a team of brilliant inventors and engineers as well as his own business savvy, his company became famous for material science. The Time of Golden Ships As the Allies (United States, UK, Commonwealth Dominions) returned to power and began a cold war with the United Powers (China's sphere of influence including Russia, and Pakistan), an economic boom occurred. World GDP growth reached heights of 5% a year, which had not been seen since the 20th century. Historians and economists disagree about the causes ranging from high defense spending, to the resumption of free trade, to major innovations in space industry. Space colonization reached previously unimaginable heights. Luna became more and more economically sufficient. The terraforming of Mars accelerated to new heights. The Hellas Crater, Noctis Labyrinthis and Mariner Valley all became livable. Industry accelerated on Titan as factories were made more efficient by the greater temperature gap. Terraforming efforts began on Ganymede. Mining efforts in the Belt slowed but made other industry possible. Pansolar Industrialists * Jin Wei: Uncountable the most powerful private businessman in the interwar period. His company became famous for selling the best engines in the system. He constructed the Tàiyáng Hé (太阳河) or River of the Sun, a complex array of giant solettas, lenses, and mirrors which delivered power to countless stations which used lasers to accelerate solar sail ships across the system. * Wessex-Cahyadi Inc: A powerful Corporation based in an independent city on Luna. They first specialized in small merchant ships but soon expanded to military contracts and even terraforming. * Trans Pacific Cōngmíng General: Run by Alan Li (descendant of US president Alex Li). It started out as a powerful Trading Firm between the United States and Hong Kong, but after they constructed dual mass drivers in both Hong Kong and the United States they became extremely important in space trade. After 25 years they soon controlled the asteroid Interamnia and the Interamnian region which was a major economic center. * Euphrosyne-Zamok Conglomerates: Started as trading firm between spacecraft and industrial equipment makers on Mars, and miners in the Belt. * Sooryoday Inc: Used indentured labor to send colonists to the outer planets. * Alpha Technology: Established a colony on Mars which developed terraforming technology. * Numerica: Started the terraforming of Ganymede. * Emirates Space United: A private corporation from the United Arab Emirates which specializes in orbital manufacturing. Mars Jovian System Ganymede * Ganymede contains the largest city in the Jovian system, Rbye (ربيع) which started out shipping water to the Jovian system and the asteroid belt. It was one of the first water exporting colonies in the Jovian system. Since then, it became the headquarters for Emirates Space United bring many colonists and businesses. * Giant mirrors pioneered by Martian terraforming turned Ganymede into a farming colony for Titan. They were constructed by Emirates Space United which expanded its operations to include Ganymede based farming. * Alpha moved one of its major corporate headquarters away from the EU to Ganymede. Ganymede offered protection from Earth's legal authorities for their cybernetic and genetic experiments, in addition to small orbital manufacturing capabilities and agriculture to feed employees. * Trans Pacific Cōngmíng General set up a base on Ganymede to ship food, water, and atmospheric components to their colonies on Interamnia, and to support their trading ships in the outer solar system. * As Ganymede became more economically important, businesses and local governments began a terraforming effort. Io * A small city was built by Iran which used the volcanic flows for geothermal power. That wealth of energy was used to power a mass driver on Io's surface which they used for trade. They launched minerals (especially silicon and magnesium) and chemicals which were used in fine machinery by industry in the outer solar system and the belt. Although its population is small, it is still very important to the outer system economy. * Numerica established a second city on Io where they shipped Sulfur to be combined with Florine to make Sulfur-Hexafluoride from Ganymede to be used as a greenhouse gas for the terraforming effort. Europa * Europa is home to five subterranean polities: (in order of population) Shēnhǎi (深海), Osimiri, Nayasamudr, Dòngxué (洞穴), and Bodega País. Each of these territories consists primarily of subterranean cavern cities, powered by #######. Cavern cities are connected to each other with a system of tunnels and the underwater oceans. Each cavern territory is connected to the surface by one (or two in the case of Shēnhǎi and Nayasamudr) gateway city which is on top of the tunnels leading down into Europa's depths. * The settlements on Europa started out only shipping ice to Mars, the Outer Solar System, and the Belt, but colonists in Shēnhǎi began constructing their own underwater ecosystems which made the cavernous towns and cities more disireable. Now many parts of Europa are tech hubs in addition to selling ice and minerals. * Jin Wei established his headquarters on Europa. Callisto * Several small cities were founded on Callisto which were primarily used as forward bases for the other Jovian colonization projects. 4th Global War Lead up to War China (and arguably the rest of the Hierarchy) had enjoyed hegemony for more than 40 years. Tensions with EU resulted in prolonged conflict which allowed the United States, the UK, and the other Commonwealth nations to reestablish their power and logistical strength. By 2142 the United States and UK had reestablished themselves and Chinese/Hierarchy hegemony was no longer assured. China and Pakistan both had significant interests in India after Pakistan seized Kashmir in 2114. In 2154 parliamentary elections in India ended a ten year period during which a socialist government sympathetic to China ruled. The new government was rather nationalist and advocated for control of Kashmir and reducing regulatory exceptions for Hierarchy corporations. This came to a head when they ended the foreign monopoly on oil trade which violated a treaty they were forced to sign. In response the Hierarchy blockaded India with the deceleration that they would not cease to do so until the Indian Prime Minister was replaced by the previous leader's second in command. Initiating Event The United States and the UK used previous treaties which gave them the right to protect free trade to oppose the Heirarchy's regime change. A British owned shipping barge challenged the blockade and was fired upon from a Russian warship. In response an American spacecraft fired on the Russian warship. Soon the hierarchy had declared war. The European Union remained neutral. Major Events * Battle of Java: Widely considered the bloodiest battle in human history. Part of the Indonesian campaign. Both sides used multiple tactical nuclear weapons against eachother's armies. The largest combatants were (from largest to smallest) the Chinese Forces, Indonesian Government Forces, the Pakistani Forces, the Indonesian Rebel Forces, the Indian Forces, the American Forces, and the Australian Forces. Scholars estimate the death toll was anywhere from 4 million to 16 million. * Terra-Orbital Turning Point: Prior to the war, military strategy in space emphasized The United Powers Navy had defeated the Allied Fleet due to its superior and more numerous capital ships, in contrast the Allies had only 5 major capital ships at the start of the war (by the end they had many more) due to treaty restrictions from the 3rd Global War. Instead their fleet was composed primarily of small fighters which were unable to bombard or support terrestrial units nor support the capital ships that could. After the first battle the Allied fleet was reduced to 2 major capital ships; in contrast the United Powers had lost only 1 out of ~28 capitol ships. The Allies' fleet was forced to retreat away from the lower orbitals. Over the next 3 months the Powers bombarded the Allies primarily with kinetic bombardment. This changed when the British unveiled their x-ray cascade lasers. They used nuclear weapons to power lasers which were highly effective against large and high mass capital ships. While the weapon was soon copied by the United Powers, it's prevalence changed the nature of space warfare to focus more on smaller fighter craft which gave the allies a significant advantage. Timeline Year 1 () Chinese and Pakistani forces invade India as war is declared. An Iranian warship uses a nuclear weapon to eliminate an American mercenary fleet in orbit around Mars. The international community agrees that this is distinct from using nuclear weapons on Earth. American and Russian forces in joint occupation of Alaska clash. The clash intensifies and Chinese bombardment of Fairbanks gave Russians an advantage. Year 2 () Alaskan insurgents join US forces and decimate the Russian occupiers. The Hierarchy fleet repels the Anglo-American Joint Fleet away to Lunar orbit. Year 3 () Year 4 () Year 5 () Year 6 () Year 7 () Year 8 () A truce is declared. By 2XXX every nation had officially agreed to peace. Destruction of the War on Earth Conventional Nuclear Weapons Both sides of the war used nuclear weapons. Major cities in China, Japan, India, the United States, and the EU were bombarded by nuclear weapons, though only a few of those cities were entirely depopulated. Some of the hardest hit cities include Bejing, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, More than half of the total nuclear weapons built on Earth before the war (about 50,000) were destroyed before they could be launched, usually by kinetic bombardment, mobile infantry, or other nuclear weapons. Of the remaining 20,000 nuclear weapons, 2,000 were never used, 12,000 were destroyed during launch (by orbital X-Ray Lasers, aircraft interception, or Brilliant Pebbles), 1,000 were used to launch spacecraft in the style of project Orion. Only the remaining 5,000 successfully reached there targets on Earth, however, that was still enough to cause massive damage. 4,000 of the successful 5,000 were used tactically against unlaunched nuclear weapons, large groupings of soldiers, or major military bases. The other half were used strategically against economic and political centers. Major factories and financial centers were heavily bombarded. Some countries began to build their factories underground so that they wouldn't have to constantly rebuild. More important cities usually had a stronger Brilliant Pebble Umbrella so they were able to escape bombardment entirely until infantry were able to arrive and take down defenses. This is what happened to Bejing during the Invasion of China. Cobalt Bombs While the use of tactical Nuclear Weapons had slowly become excepted by the international community starting with a limited exchange during the sixth Indo-Pakistani war. Even strategic nuclear weapons had become somewhat excepted and at the very least expected. What was not expected or accepted was the use of Cobalt Bombs. Cobalt Bombs were designed to have increased fall out and make the area they targeted completely unihabitable for ~100 years. In contrast areas targeted by conventional nuclear weapons (an ironic term if there ever was one) had a slight heightened risk of cancer and birth defects, but were largely inhabitable fairly quickly. Iran had one Cobalt Bomb which it used against Haifa. In response the United States and Israel released biological weapon called Homer 2. The Russian Federations had a stockpile of 25 Cobalt Bombs but never used them during the war. The People's Republic of China had a stockpile of 100 cobalt bombs, but planned to use them only as a last resort. This policy was changed when the United States used a Biological Weapon called Homer 2. In response to that attack the Chinese infantry (who had occupied Western Mexico) launched 10 short range Cobalt Bombs against the United States. 5 were targeted at Los Angeles, 2 at Phoenix, 1 at San Antonio and 2 at Austin. To the United States this was considered one of the worst crimes of the war. A joint Anglo-American Intelligence and Special Forces operation sneaked into China and destroyed most of the remaining Cobalt Bombs, but 40 more survived and were used primarily in the pacific and West Coast throughout the remainder of the war. Biological Weapons Tiresias 2 was used by the United States in response to the Cobalt bombing of Haifa. The US claimed that the disease did not violated international laws or norms because it was non lethal. Instead the disease was designed to temporarily blind those it infected. 100 million were infected in China, unfortunately another 40 million were infected in India unintentionally due to failed vaccine logistics. Economic In the wake of the War, the entire solar system suffered a massive recession. In addition the destruction of the war led to so much technology being lost that the Great Powers were unable to make ships or fleets the way the head before the war. Post War Recovery Earth China Mars The biggest settlement on Mars was the city state of Harmonia in Hellas Planitia. The Hellas Planitia crater was walled so that the atmosphere would not spread over all of mars. It is the only region on mars with a survivable atmosphere. The atmosphere is pressurized enough to survive (as long as you have an oxygen mask) throughout the crater, and it is breathable at the lowest point of the Crater in Harmonia City. More than 5 million people live throughout the crater. The average population density is less than 1 person per square mile. Harmonia City is a Martian metropolis surrounding the Concordian sea. It was named after Harmonia, the Greek goddess of peaceful harmony and concord as well as daughter of Mars. The city is one of the only truly independent settlements on Mars. It was constructed by an alliance of corporations, ultra-wealthy entrepreneurs, and non profits with the support and recognition of the United Nations. The City-State is home to 100,000 citizens in the main city, and many more in surrounding smaller out posts. The original colonists were primarily American and European, so the primary language of the city is English, though in the cities two biggest neighborhoods French (mostly subsaharan) and Arabic are more common. Now the majority of the cities occupants originally come from Sub-Saharan Africa, India, and China. The city is the major trade hub of Hellas Planitia and many settlements outside the crater. Dr Pae Min-Su spearheaded the project in the UN, calling for the city to be built as a symbol of peace for mankind.